The Honorary Reporters were invited to the National Museum of Korea on August 5, 2020. The museum recently re-opened after closure due to Covid19. As we all know, all cultural facilities like museums and art galleries were closed as part of the government’s efforts to contain the virus.

The National Museum of Korea designed a special program tour for the Honorary Reporters. We were lucky to have been invited so I didn’t mind the pouring rain forecasted that day. The museum is very special to me because this is where I took some pottery classes. I have collected a number of buncheong celadon I personally made here.

This was an event I did not want to miss. True enough, I was glad to be with my co-Honorary Reporters. Everyone seemed to have missed each other after a long while. The new ones were obviously glad to have finally attended an event organized for the Honorary Reporters.

We had to line up going inside the museum. There were marks all over reminding us to observe social distancing. Our temperatures were checked as we went inside. After we all gathered in one of the Lecture Rooms, we were formally welcomed and the tour began.

The Exhibitions

We were first ushered to the Permanent Exhibition. This is located at the right side of the building. This houses an extensive collection that span three floors. I was most amazed by the Immersive Digital Gallery. Maybe because this is the part of the exhibit that puts all the collection together in a digital presentation that will leave you in awe.

Then we were transferred to the left side of the building where the Special Exhibition is located. The National Museum proudly presents this exhibition as it has managed to put together the largest number of treasures collected. This is ongoing until September 27, 2020 so don’t miss this out.

Gifts from the National Museum

After the tour, we all received a dainty package. It contains the National Museum handbook, fan, and a special set of face mask with a pouch. What’s special about this face mask? This is embroidered with relic representations of the display inside the museum. Its matching pouch has the same embroidery. This is special for me as anything that shows cultural pride is something I admire.

Please watch the video below as I enjoyed opening our loot bags with my co-Honorary Reporters.

Now that the museums have opened, I am even more grateful I am currently living in this country. We may have gone through a scary time when the number of infections were steadily rising last February, but we have survived it with the swift response of the government. We have all tried to do our part by doing our own self-quarantine. That helped the government in its efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

We are now slowly going back to normal. But, of course with a lot of precautions. I am grateful. Let us all continue to do our part and adhere to the government’s guidelines so we can continue to move forward.

Also published in Korea.net: Reopened museum invites Honorary Reporters for tour